Barry is a heck of a player, and will cause matchup problems for most point guards due to his savvy and height. The Rockets, shot like crap, had many questionable calls against them, and turned the ball over waaaay too much. That's it period......Oh, and not guarding Kevin freaking Ollie.
Just like Rudy, Larry outcoached himself. Stupid. His handling of Ming, Taylor and Rice cost us the game. On the road, defense and low post play are key. He needed to have done more to get Ming in the post and get him to pass the ball properly. They were doubling so fast we just had to move the ball. The same for MoT. This is part of our bread and butter, it is not an option. For us to win we have to have the low post game clicking, getting fouls and open shots. The effort to establish that was lacking and the Sonics is not the first team I think of when I am thinking defense. Additionally, the best help to establish the low post game is somebody like Rice who just could not get off the bench. What up with that? Poor job, Larry, real poor! Then there is the rotation. For various reasons including balance, you cannot have Posey and Rice in at the same time and have MoT and EG on the bench. Crazy. These guys are power forwards and you Larry, of all people should know that. If MoT is not in the game, put in EG and vice versa. Crucial defense and rebounding breakdowns happened as a result. You were clearly in over your head. Probably nerves, I do not know. Finally, Steve needs to take some heat for his propensity to lose his man on defense. Ollie did what the Euck he wanted while SF wanders all over the place. Oh Gawd!
pgabriel:- I just see the Rockets Staff are trying to work the imposible to have Guards that play a street ball style of the game and a team working its way to becoming a classical Big Mans Team . At the end of all of this I expect you to call me a Prophet or at least that I had great forsight with my opinion about our Guards/Big Man. I know most fans cant see it my way yet but be patient with me. I remind you again that I have been a fervent Rockets Fan for a long time and that I prefer the Rockets playing the classical BIG MANS Game. This does not make me a Yao Ming Only Fan. It makes me a fan of the Rockets playing Big Man Basketball,which is what I have been used to watching for so many years. I believe we should move Yao Ming or our Guards. We cant build arround two different philosophies at the same time!
Steve was a rebound from a tripple double. Last week he made the player of the week while avg. 8 apg. At this moment in time, Steve is playing the best basketball of his career. He is passing the ball very well, and he controling the offense like we've always wanted him to. And now that we've lost one game we should shun Steve for his steller play? I'm sorry, I guess I'm just confused.
Yetti is the worst poster in this forum. He lambasts everybody but Yao and when anyone makes a point about Ming that is negative Yetti calls them racist. For somebody that is apparently older than most posters here, he needs to grow up. Steve is the MAN, it really is almost sad how personal the attacks get when he's struggling. Now that he is playing well (like many of us knew he would) the critics are giving the man the credit he deserves.
I agree that the loss wasn't entirely Steve's fault but to put NO blame on him is ridiculous. Afterall, isn't he our proclaimed Franchise? When we win, we (fans/media) gives our "leader" Stevie proper credit. As evident by his player of the week award this past week when we went 3-0 eventhough Steves stats were not spectacular. Shouldnt this mean that when we lose, he should take some of the heat as well? As I said 100's of times. This may not be completely fair. But no one said being a leader or "franchise" player is easy. If Steve wants this role and you as a fan claim that he is our leader, then these types of criticisms during losses will continuously and rightfully occur.
I understand your basic premise, what you don't understand is the problem isn't with Steve, its with Posey and Mobley for the most part, this team needs some more shooters in the lineup, when Glenn Rice was knocking down his threes during the streak, the team looked fine, when Mobley is hot the team looks fine, even if you bring in what you consider to be a better point guard, that person is still going to have to have someone to pass to.
Don't even start blaming Stevie for the loss... I'm not saying he isn't partly to blame, but LS really doesn't have any control and yet again, another loss... I see better things tonight...
Steve Francis is to Blame for us being tied with Phoenix! We should be up by At least Four games on them right now! If the team was just 1 on 5 with Yao, We would be no doubt undefeated at this point! Trade selfish Francis and Mobley Who are cancers for Wang Zhi Zhi and Mengke Bateer, Who would Bring many championships to Houston! And Fire Rudy!!! sinceraly, Yetti
You got it all wrong - Glen Rice knocking down open shots was/is facilitated by the success of the inside - Not the other way round. I want you people to understand having ONE inside game or post player in the NBA is a blessing many Franchise have never experienced. The Houston Rockets have TWO formidable and dependable post players. Go figure!
Steve does his job lately. The coach is clearly to blame for this loss. While Yao usually explodes in the fourth quarter and finish the game strong, why the hell is he not playing much in the fourth? There's no excuse.
Uh....read my post again. I said, "Aside from his turnovers (Yao is guilty of this as well) and not making it a point to get Yao more involved, Steve balled his ass off." I already acknowledged what Stevie did wrong in last night's game -- in other thread's as well -- but I look @ this with a much broader scope (unlike Yetti and other Yao-only fans). To blame Francis for the loss against SEA is a joke. I and some others criticize Wink when justified, but he's been playing @ a very high-level: getting his teammates involved, rebounding, getting steals, shooting the ball, getting to the line. Of course he's not perfect and there's a lot more he could learn, but he's been getting better and even the biggest Yao-only fan has to acknowledge this.
Don't blame Steve as well as Yao for that matter. It's bad coaching, selfish role players and nothing else. See the Portland game: Our best 2 players: Yao: 9 shot attempts (and none in the crunch 4th quarter except 1 in meaningless garbage time) Steve: 10 shot attempts (and hardly a play called for him in the 4th quarter) Our role players: Taylor: 13 shot attempts (and repeatedly had post plays run for him even when Yao's also on the court) Griffin: 13 shot attempts Mobley: 12 shot attempts Can anyone explain the logic of this kind of shot distribution? How could this be justified? Forget the defensive attention and double team excuse. Your best players should always get most shot attempts. Role players should always defer to the best players! And coach should run plays for your best players every time, not run plays for your role players!
